Has matcha met its match?

Health and nutrition are no longer a niche but an expectation. Between 2024 and 2025, Ocado Retail saw sales of functional drinks such as kombucha, kefir and matcha surge by 54%.

Functional beverages have become routine. In fact, Ocado’s research found that 22% of UK adults have now swapped out their morning tea/coffee for a functional drink such as matcha, herbal teas or mushroom based drinks, jumping to almost two fifths (39%) of Gen Z.

A similar pattern repeats in the afternoon, with 24% of all adults and 42% of Gen Z making the switch. This reflects a broader shift, driven by younger consumers, towards ‘cleaner’ energy drinks, with a lower caffeine content.

This trend is in turn helping to drive footfall back to coffee shops which have been impacted by the at-home barista frenzy, according to Lumina insight lead, Tom Price.

“Coffee shops are forecast to see a 3.8% CAGR for turnover,” he says. “This is partly driven by brand aligning with more premium cues with functional drinks on menus like matcha and adaptogens like Lions mane mushrooms, providing innovative new options that help brands stay up to date with the latest trends on social media for example.”

Matcha has seen a particularly good few years, with its low caffeine content and ‘Instagrammable’ green hue having helped encourage its widespread appeal.

But now, there’s a new tea in town.

Meet hojicha

Hojicha is a Japanese roasted tea, traditionally made by roasting green tea leaves and stems at high temperatures.

This process significantly transforms both its appearance and flavour. Unlike the fresh, grassy notes generally associated with green tea, hojicha develops a much deeper roasted character with nutty, smoky and sometimes caramel notes.

“Hojicha is absolutely one to watch,” Richard Smith, owner at The Kent & Sussex Tea & Coffee Co tells Food Manufacture.

“It’s made from the same plant as matcha, but the leaves are roasted instead of steamed, creating a toasty, nutty character rather than the grassy green note. It’s lower caffeine, which is what people are growing more conscious of, and it can appeal to people who find matcha’s flavour profile too intense.”

“What makes hojicha particularly interesting to us is that its flavour profile sits somewhere between tea and coffee,” adds Kitty Lu, director of public affairs at Asian food delivery platform, HungryPanda.

“The roasting gives it some of the depth, warmth and aroma that consumers associate with coffee, while it retains the lighter character and versatility of tea.”

Hojicha, which has been traditionally consumed as a hot tea in Japan, is now following a similar pattern to matcha. Brands and manufacturers have started to play with the flavour in iced lattes, soft serve, cakes, pastries and other desserts.

“That versatility is an important part of its appeal – consumers can experience a traditional Japanese tea through formats that are already very familiar to them,” says Lu.

But Lu adds that HungryPanda sees hojicha as “more than simply another Asian flavour becoming fashionable”.

She elaborates: “It is also a product of cultural convergence – where traditional Japanese tea culture meets the formats, rituals and flavour expectations of modern global café culture.

“At HungryPanda, this is something we see more broadly across food and beverage trends. Asian consumers and businesses are increasingly influencing mainstream food culture, while Asian brands are simultaneously adapting traditional products to global tastes.

“The result is becoming less about ‘Asian’ versus ‘Western’ food and more about a new generation of consumers who are comfortable moving between both.”

Innovations in hojicha

Like matcha, Lu says hojicha is being treated more as a “flavour platform”, with its roasting profile offering a complementary pairing to milk, cream, chocolate, caramel and nutty flavours.

“We are seeing it included with interesting flavour combinations in beverages such as sea salt maple, spiced peach and brown sugar, cookie butter and banana,” adds Chris Randles, senior flavourist at JPL.

“Hojicha works especially well with anything that is caramelised, sweet and nutty. This is mainly due to it being a roasted green tea, and roasting drives the Maillard reaction, generating the same aroma compounds that dominate other roasted foods. For example, it can often add an extra complex taste profile to an already caramelised banana, or it can simply pair with banana alone giving it that roasted caramelised profile in its own unique way.

“It works really well with fruits that are often baked/roasted, like pears, bananas and apples, as well as with the browner profiles such as maple and caramel.”

Like matcha, hojicha’s low caffeine content also makes it an attractive proposition for today’s wellness orientated consumer.

Could this be in the new matcha?

So will hojicha push matcha out of the spotlight?

Currently, hojicha can be found in speciality cafes, on the periphery, but as Lumina’s Price notes: “When we look at Matcha, this was exactly the trajectory it went on some years ago – and now we’re seeing Matcha products almost everywhere.”

Indeed, according to Tastewise, UK social media conversations around hojicha rose by 109% between July 2024 and July 2026. Meanwhile flavour and ingredients firms are seeing requests ticking up.

Briony Rideout, senior beverage innovations specialist at I.T.S notes that its warming profile is “particularly well suited to autumnal beverage launches”, so it may be that we see some more of hojicha as things begin to get cooler.

Price also highlighted the green tea’s potential as an evening drink due to its cosy flavours.

“Increasingly we’re seeing hybrid café spaces which open throughout the day and evening- young people are drinking less and so are looking for these spaces in the evenings that offer options other than alcohol,” he explains.

For Rideout, what will be fascinating to observe is how well a brown-coloured drink can draw people in: “Much of the success of Matcha has been down to its ‘Instagram-ability’ – the bright green helps to boost social media dwell time and engagement as it stands out on Instagram and TikTok feeds. It will be interesting to see how well a brown-coloured beverage will grab consumer attention.”

But as Lu points out, the introduction of new ingredients into the Western world doesn’t necessarily have to mean the end of a current trend.

“What we are seeing is that matcha itself is still on a strong growth trajectory,” she says. “It continues to become more popular and is appearing across more cafés, beverages, desserts and mainstream consumer products. The emergence of hojicha doesn’t necessarily mean consumers are moving away from matcha. If anything, it suggests that their appetite for Asian flavours is continuing to expand.

“The market is big enough for more than one flavour to succeed. In fact, matcha’s popularity may actually help hojicha. It has introduced a much broader audience to Japanese tea culture and made consumers more willing to explore other flavours.”

From HungryPanda’s perspective, Lu says hojicha’s rising status is not indicative of a ‘new matcha’, but rather a reflection of the category’s expansion.

“That is perhaps the bigger story behind hojicha. As Asian flavours become increasingly integrated into mainstream food and beverage culture, there is room for matcha, hojicha and many more flavours to grow alongside each other.

“Hojicha doesn’t need to become the next matcha. It has the opportunity to become the first hojicha.”